Cleveland Indians leaders Yu Chang shared on Twitter that he received racist social media messages after his decisive throwing error in Cleveland’s loss to the White Sox on Monday.
Chang tweeted early Tuesday morning: “Exercise your freedom of speech in a right way, I accept all comments, positive or negative, but DEFINITELY NOT RACIST. Thank you all and love you all. #StopAsianHate.”
Chang’s tweet included a screenshot of anti-Asian racist social media messages he received from three different users. Two of the accounts no longer existed Tuesday morning, and the third is private.
Cleveland lost 4-3 on Monday night when Chang beat the Yasmani Grandal of Chicago with a throw while trying to force him to second base in the ninth innings, which enabled Nick Madrigal to record the winning run.
Chang, who played first base, used Nick Williams’ one-off starting field and tried to get Grandal in second place rather than kicking out on second base for second. His throw hit Grandal in the helmet, and the ball was to the left of the interior in the direction of Madrigal.
Chang, 25, is a native of Taiwan who has played with the Indians for three seasons. He mainly played short stops and third base during his career and had never played first base before the season.
According to a recent report by the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism, hate crimes against Asian Americans have risen by nearly 150% in the past year.
The #StopAsianHate movement received national attention last month after a white man killed eight people – including six people of Asian descent – in a series of shootings at spas in Atlanta.